The present invention relates to new silica gel nanofibers and new silica glass nanofibers.
The invention also relates to methods for preparing such nanofibers from chrysotile asbestos.
Nanometer scale fibers, filled or hollow, are of a great interest since the advent of carbon nanotubes.
Catalysis, separation, filling of plastic and optical communication are a few of the fields where the morphology of fibers plays an important role. These fields are also rich in applications where non-fibrous silica gel or silica glass is an active component. Silica nanofibers would therefore offer new possibilities of applications just like carbon nanotubes opened new avenues less than a decade ago.
It is well known that all silicates, whether natural or synthetic, react in water with acids, leading to the replacement of cations by hydrogen ions. The general formula of the end-product is SiO2.nH2O. Hydrolysis of many organic compounds containing silicon leads to the same end-product. Under diluted conditions silica acid (SiO2.2H2O or Si(OH)4 can exist as a solute and a monomer in solution. However, under most conditions SiO2.nH2O is a solid known as silica gel, having a polymeric structure consisting of chains, sheets or three-dimensional networks. Firing of silica gel gives silica glass.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,849 discloses a method for preparing three-dimensional mesoporous material by incorporating a surface-active agent in the sheet structure of silica gel obtained from acid attack on natural silicates. This method provides specific surface area of 500 m2/g or less.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,169,135 discloses a method for preparing powder, beads or granules of silica having specific surfaces up to 240 m2/g, by acidifying silicates with strong or weak acids. Silica particulates with specific surface up to 300 m2/g and mean pore diameter ranging from 10 to 50 nm are the result of reactions between silicates and acids in water (see also U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,470).
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,989,510 and 6,235,258 disclose methods for preparing silica solids having a surface area of up to about 800 m2/g by means of polymeric substances and acid neutralisation of silicates. These solids are amorphous, granular, spherical or of undefined morphology.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,221,326 discloses a method for preparing hollow silica particles, which consists in precipitating active silica on a core followed by its elimination, thus leaving a silica shell.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,914 discloses a method is also known to produce silica glass fibers from spinning a silica sol solution and sintering the gel fibers. The diameter of the so prepared fibers is of about 20 xcexcm. Mesoporous silica fibers can also be made by a spinning process (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,923,299) with diameter of the order of 40 xcexcm and high specific surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,983 discloses a method for preparing fine silica tubes from a reaction involving a synthetic silicon compound and an acid. The so prepared silica gel tubes and silica glass tubes have diameters of 50 to 2000 nm and lengths of up to 500 xcexcm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,098 discloses a method by which metal hydride particles are embedded in a silica network.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,136,736 discloses a method for preparing silica glass doped with many elements.
The large number of existing patents pertaining to silica products shows the importance of silica material having high surface area, chemical and thermal stability, and special morphology. The availability of silica nanofibers should therefore be welcome. If such nanofibers were also abundantly and economically produced, numerous applications could be developed.
Indeed, small diameter fibers are recognized to be more effective in applications such as strengthening and filtration. Silica gel and silica glass nanofibers would therefore expand the field of applications of granular silica gel and silica glass.
A natural silicon-based nanofiber is chrysotile asbestos. This mineral a fibrous silicate mineral, as are other asbestiform silicates like amosite, crocidolite and anthophyllite. The chemical composition of chrysotile is Mg6(OH)8.Si4O10.
The reactivity of chrysotile asbestos in the presence of acids, complexing agents and inorganic salts is well documented. For example, chrysotile is known to decompose in hydrochloric acid to magnesium ions and amorphous gel-like silica. In this connection, reference can be made to the following disclosure and Master theses available at Universitxc3xa9 Laval:
xe2x80x9cEvaluation of chrysotile by chemical methodsxe2x80x9d, C. Barbeau, Short course in Mineralogical techniques of Asbestos determination, Mineralogical Association of Canada, 1979, 197-212;
xe2x80x9cÉtude de la rxc3xa9activitxc3xa9 du chrysotilexe2x80x9d, L. Gendreau, Master thesis, Universitxc3xa9 Laval, 1985, 92 pages;
xe2x80x9cDissolution sxc3xa9quentielle des feuillets du chrysotile en milieu acidexe2x80x9d, C. deBlois, Master thesis, Universitxc3xa9 Laval, 1987, 143 pages; and
xe2x80x9cAdsorption de mxc3xa9taux de transition sur l""amiante chrysotilexe2x80x9d, L. Dussault, Master thesis, Universitxc3xa9 Laval, 1990, 106 page).
Partial decomposition of chrysotile occurs in aqueous and weakly acidic solutions, thereby producing soluble silicic acid and magnesium ions. The remaining solid retains the original morphology and chemical composition, but the diameter of the fibers is usually reduced.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,973 discloses a method to destroy the crystal structure and the fibrous nature of the chrysotile asbestos, which consists in spraying a water solution of a weak acid onto asbestos-containing material.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,005,185 also discloses a method which makes use of a fluoro acid agent for converting chrysotile asbestos material to environmentally benign components. In the latter case, the tubular silicate structure is transformed to an open and unrolled silica product.
The present invention is based on the discovery that chrysotile asbestos can be converted to silica gel without loss of its tubular morphology. Such a discovery is of a great interest inasmuch as it permits to obtain fibers having a length of up to several millimeters and a diameter of less than 100 nanometers. Moreover, the so-obtained nanofibers of silica gel may thereafter be converted by firing into nanofibers of silica glass. Such new nanofibers can be produced at low cost and have numerous industrial applications due to their unique morphology.
More specifically, the invention is based on the discovery that by heating chrysotile in an aqueous solution containing the reactive combination of a controlled-proton-releasing agent and a cation-complexing agent, one may replace and dissolve the cations of the silicate by protons and thus obtain solid fibrous, amorphous hydrated silica also called xe2x80x9csilica gel nanofibersxe2x80x9d. The so-obtained silica gel nanofibers may thus be converted to silica glass nanofibers by deshydration at a temperature of 900 to 1200xc2x0 C., preferably close to 1000xc2x0 C.
Thus, a fist object of the invention is to provide a method for preparing silica gel nanofibers comprising the step of heating a chrysotile asbestos in an aqueous solution containing at least one controlled-proton-releasing agent and at least one cation-complexing agent, and subsequently recovery the silica gel nanofibers that have been prepared from the aqueous solution.
A second object of the invention is to provide silica gel nanofibers of improved structure. These fibers which may be obtained by the above mentioned method, have an outer diameter lower than 100 nm, a length up to 1 cm, a specific surface area of from 600 to 1000 m2/g and pore diameters of from 2 to 10 nm.
A third object of the invention is to provide a method for preparing silica glass nanofibers, comprising of the step of heating the above silica gel nanofibers at a temperature of 900xc2x0 C. to 1200xc2x0 C.
A fourth object of the invention is to provide silica glass nanofibers of improved structure. These fibers which can be obtained by the above-mentioned method, have an outer diameter and a length similar to that of the above silica gel fibers.
The so obtained silica gel and silica glass nanofibers have numerous potential applications, especially due to their capacity to adsorb or absorb ions and metals, especially catalytically useful metals such as copper and silver.
The invention and the way it can be reduced to practice will be better understood upon reading the following non-restrictive detailed description.
In the following description and appended claims, the term xe2x80x9cnanofibersxe2x80x9d applies to elongated structures, either solid or hollow, having a cross section or diameter of less than 200 nanometers (usually from about 5 to 100 nanometers) and a length of about 1 micron to about 1 centimeter.
The term xe2x80x9csilicaxe2x80x9d as used herein, refers to a solid form of silicon oxide of stoichiometry equal to or close to SiO2, with a purity greater than 90%.
The term xe2x80x9csilica gelxe2x80x9d as used herein, refers to a solid form of amorphous silica, which contains hydrated water or hydroxyl groups.
The term xe2x80x9csilica glassxe2x80x9d as used herein, refers to a solid form of amorphous silica, which is free of water.
As aforesaid, the present invention is based on the discovery that by heating chrysotile asbestos, in an aqueous solution containing the reactive combination of a controlled-proton-releasing agent and a cation-complexing agent, one may replace and dissolve the cations of the silicate by protons and thus obtain solid fibrous and amorphous hydrated silica. The so-obtained silica gel nanofibers may then be converted into silica glass nanofibers by deshydratation at a temperature higher than 900xc2x0 C.
Chrysotile asbestos which is used as starting material, is known to have a regular crystalline structure resulting from cylindrical or spiral arrangement of alternating layers of magnesium hydroxide and silicon oxide with oxygen atoms bounding the layers and sharing the two chemical entities. The chrysotile fibers have an inner diameter that can be less than 10 nanometers and an outer diameter from 30 to 200 nanometers. Since they are long (up to 1 centimeter) and flexible, the fibers tend to tangle. The central portion of the fibers surrounded by the inner diameter may be hollow or filled.
The presence of iron ions as substitute for magnesium ions and the curvature stress brought by the inequality of surface area of the magnesium hydroxide and silicon oxide layers are responsible for stability differences in the cylindrical tubes making up chrysotile fibers. The lack of high stability renders a number of cylindrical tubes labile in presence of chemical reagents. Thermodynamic stability also plays a role in the transformation of chrysotile into antigorite and brucite at temperatures above 250xc2x0 C.
In solutions containing only proton-liberating compounds, the magnesium hydroxide layer of chrysotile reacts with hydrogen ions, producing magnesium ions and water, and causing a disappearance of the magnesium-containing layer. The oxygen atom shared between a magnesium atom and a silicon atom reacts with a hydrogen ion to give a hydroxyl group. Destruction of the silicon oxide layer takes place with production of silicic acid. By controlling the conditions for the hydrogen ion attack, stepwise double layer leaching can be obtained. In solutions containing only magnesium-complexing agents, stepwise leaching of chrysotile dissolves both layers, producing magnesium complexes and silicic acid.
The destruction of the silicon oxide layer results from the breakage of one or more links of the type Sixe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94Si. In order to dissolve magnesium ions without causing the destruction of the silicon oxide layer, the multiple Sixe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94Si bond should be preserved or left to rearrange without breaking. Conditions should therefore be controlled for dissolving magnesium and iron ions without provoking a modifying reaction with silicon oxide.
In accordance with the invention, it has surprisingly be discovered that a reaction combination containing a control proton-releasing agent, especially a weak hydrogen ion releasing compound, and a selective cation complexing agent, is effective when reacted with chrysotile under certain conditions inasmuch as it causes a leaching and total dissolution of the metal cations in chrysotile, while leaving a skeleton of silicon oxide with the overall original morphology of chrysotile.
As aforesaid, the first component of the reactive combination is a controlled proton-releasing agent. Such an agent is preferably a xe2x80x9cweakxe2x80x9d hydrogen ion releasing compound, that is a compound having a dissociation constant that ranges between about 4 and 7 on the pKa scale. Organic acids such as acetic or ascorbic acid, organic salts such as hydrogen citrate or hydrogen oxalate or inorganic salts such as ammonium chloride or hydroxylamine sulphate can be used for controlled leaching of the chrysotile. It is worth noting that leaching of the chrysotile must be kept over 30% and the solution must be sufficiently diluted so silicic acid remains in solution and does not polymerise to granular silica gel.
The second component of the reactive combination is a chemical agent able to complex divalent and trivalent transition metal cations found in chrysotile. The complex that is formed must be water soluble and possess an effective dissociation constant greater than about 5 on the pK scale, for the pH condition established for or by the first component. Polydendate ligands such as ethylene-dinitrilo-tetraacetate, nitrilo-tetraacetate or oxalate are preferably used as such ligands.
The reaction is carried out in an aqueous solution at a temperature in the range of 60 to 100xc2x0 C. The pH of the solution must be maintained between 2 and 6, preferably between 3 and 5, ideally close to 4. The weight ratio chrysotile:water must be in the range 1:1000 to 5:1000.
In practice, the first component is preferably added in such an amount that the available hydrogen ions are at least 100 times the number of magnesium ions in the chrysotile sample, and in amount sufficient to insure that the pH of the solution will not fluctuate by more than one unit during the course of the reactions. The second component is added in such an amount that it exceeds by a factor of 3 to 10 the quantity of transition metal ions in the chrysotile sample.
The solution is heated at the same pre-established temperature for a period of time lasting between 7 to 20 hours. Longer reaction time does not modify the end product, neither in quality nor in yield. After filtration, the solid residue is digested in hydrochloric acid in order to completely dissolve any non-reacted chrysotile fiber and traces of accompanying metallic oxides. The yield of silica gel nanofibers amount to 15 to 35% of the amount of initial chrysotile.
The silica gel nanofibers that are so obtained are of the formula SiO2.xH2O, where x is close to 1 in samples dried at 120xc2x0 C., and decreases to less than 0.2 in samples heated at 800xc2x0 C. The purity of SiO2 is greater than 99%.
These silica gel nanofibers show none of the X-ray diffraction peaks belonging to chrysotile. The presence of only a large band at a 2-theta angle of about 24 degrees, without diffraction peaks, is indicative of an amorphous state.
These silica gel nanofibers also show infrared signals corresponding to Sixe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94Si fundamental vibrations at about 1100 cmxe2x88x921. The characteristic signal close to 3650 cmxe2x88x921, which is associated to the hydroxyl group linked to magnesium in chrysotile, is totally absent from all silica gel nanofiber samples. The Oxe2x80x94H stretching and bending vibrations bands associated with adsorbed water or surface hydroxyl groups are present in all silica gel nanofiber samples in the expected regions of about 3500 and 1650 cmxe2x88x921.
As aforesaid, the silica gel nanofibers according to the invention have a high specific surface area in the range of 600 to 1000 m2/g, as determined by BET method. The pore diameter is very narrowly distributed around 4 nm. The only difference in the nanofibers heated at 500xc2x0 C. as compared to those dried at 120xc2x0 C. comes from a lower specific surface area.
The capacity of the silica gel nanofibers according to the invention to adsorb or absorb metallic ions and metals has been demonstrated by impregnation testing carried out under different wet conditions. Transitions metal ions can be impregnated in acid or alkaline solutions to loadings of more than 10% and subsequently be reduced to metals. Copper and silver demonstrate how other catalytically useful metals could be deposited in and on the silica gel nanofibers.
The morphology of the silica gel nanofibers, as observed under scanning electron microscopy, is the same for all samples including those heated at 500xc2x0 C. Whether they are linear or twisted and/or small or large, the bundles of fibers reveal that the diameter of the individual fibers is in the nanometer range, whereas their length is in the millimeter range.
As a matter of fact, the silica gel nanofibers according to the invention as observed under high-resolution transmission microscopy, show identical morphology in terms of their diameter and their regular and parallel arrangement in the formation of bundles.
The invention is also directed to a method of preparing silica glass nanofibers. This method is based on the discovery that by slowly heating the above mentioned silica gel nanofibers up to 900 to 1200xc2x0 C., preferably 1000xc2x0 C., for 4 to 15 h, preferably 12 h, one may cause total loss of water and transformation of said fibers into silica glass nanofibers. Rapidly heating silica gel fibers at 1000xc2x0 C. also causes loss of water and production of silica glass, but the fiber structure may be partially or totally loss due to the bursting that can take place when water is expelled.
The chemical composition of the silica glass nanofibers is SiO2 with a purity of more than 99% in SiO2.
The infrared spectrum of the silica glass nanofibers differs from that of the silica gel nanofibers by the absence of any Oxe2x80x94H vibration band. Only signals related to Sixe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94Si and similar to those in quartz are present.
The silica glass fibers according to the invention are slightly porous as evidenced by the results of BET measurements that give a specific surface area close to 10 m2/g. This results together with pore diameters evaluated at about 4 nm could indicate a residual porosity from silica gel fibers.
The silica glass nanofibers infrared spectrum obtained by rapid firing may differ from the silica gel nanofibers, breaking in smaller fibers, or adopting a more columnar shape, as revealed by scanning electron-microscopy. Silica glass nanodebris seemingly produced by the bursting of fibers sometimes accompany silica glass nanofibers. Their structure is markedly different as can be seen by scanning electron or high-resolution transmission microscopy.
The morphology of the silica glass nanofibers obtained by controlled heating does not differ from that of the silica gel nanofibers, as evidenced under scanning electron microscopy. The same appearance in length, structure and diameter indicate that the transformation from gel to glass with loss of water has not caused a major morphology change.
The silica glass nanofibers appear not to differ from glass fibers in their hardness and brittleness.
It is worth noting that modification of the structure of the silica glass nanofibers is possible by processes implying embedded chemicals as will be exemplified hereinafter by a test with silver (see example 7).
The capacity of the silica glass nanofibers to encapsulate chemicals such as metals will also be exemplified hereinafter by a test performed with copper (see example 8).
The following examples made with reference to the accompanying drawings will better illustrate the invention.